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Blog: Will the real Villa stand up at Chelsea?

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With the next game at Stamford Bridge, many fans are less than optimistic, especially with Diego Costa likely to provide a real challenge for Aston Villa.

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In recent years, Stamford Bridge has been a bit of a mixed bag. From wins to close encounters to absolute hammerings, there's been a real feeling that anything could happen.

Last season, Villa were unfortunate to not come away with a point, but after a loss against Arsenal at Villa Park, fans are less than expectant.

Unfortunately for Villa, the fixture list has been rather unkind. Yes, every team has to play every other one twice, but there's also the fact that a run of games can build - or destroy - confidence.

With Manchester City and Everton to follow, there could be trouble ahead. Whilst Everton have performed at a level lower than many may have expected, City are undoubtedly significant contenders for the title.

What throws a bit of a curveball is that Villa are less than predictable. Despite losing against Arsenal, the Villans have recorded wins against bigger teams who - on paper at least - should be winning comfortably.

All of this leads to a real sense of frustration for Villans - there's no logic to what team is going to turn up.

Last week, there was a virus reportedly affecting the club, though there is much debate to how much it ultimately affected the game with Arsenal making Villa's team look like comparative minnows given the difference in cost.

In order for Villa to make something of the season, Villa have to find something which, up until now, has avoided them - consistency.

Starting well - good as it may have been to see - means nothing in the marathon race that is the Premier League, and while Villa are a quarter of the way to safety already, how things pan out over the next five games is anyone's guess.

Villa can certainly do better - and the likes of Ron Vlaar and Fabian Delph signing new contracts would point towards a bright future - but there's also the reality that the first few games may look irrelevant come the end of the season.

Getting back to the weekend, the Villans need to get ahead and try to frustrate Chelsea.

Whilst such a game plan may sound less than exciting, there's a real threat that the Blues could lay waste to Villa given the attacking prowess Chelsea have.

Diego Costa looks hungry, and the likes of Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas provide a sublime level of skill that Villans can only dream of watching regularly.

Perhaps, with a little bit of luck combined with a lot of hard work, the boys in claret and blue can steal something.

If they can, and the early run can continue, there may be increased belief that the start to the season is more than just fortunate circumstance, leading Villans to feel optimistic following a series of false dawns.

You can follow Matt Turvey's regular opinions at his own site, Aston Villa Life at http://www.astonvillalife.com, via the site's Twitter account @astonvillalife, or via his own Twitter account @mturvey_star.